Home Ministry proposes NPR update that was put off due to Covid outbreak

NEW DELHI: The Centre has proposed updating the National Population Register (NPR), which was deferred in view of the Covid-19 pandemic between 2020 and 2021, by following a “three-pronged approach”, including allowing “residents”, except Assam, to update their own data, according to the Ministry of Home Affairs’ 2021-22 annual report released on November 7.

The NPR, which is prepared under various provisions of the 2003 Citizenship Rules, framed under the 1955 Citizenship Act, was first compiled in 2010 and included “all the ‘usual residents’ in the country”. Specific information of each resident of India was collected and collated as part of the NPR exercise.

A year after the BJP-led NDA government assumed power in 2014, new fields such as name, gender, date and place of birth, place of residence and father’s and mother’s names were updated. During the course of this exercise, additional information including Aadhar, ration card and mobile phone numbers were also collected.

The report said that “demographic and other particulars of each family and individual are to be collected/updated” during the NPR updation exercise. However, the report clarified that “no documents or biometrics would be collected during the updation”.

The entire exercise would involve an expenditure of Rs 3,941.35 crore. Now, however, owing to “changes due to birth, death and migration, there is a need to update” the NPT again, the report says. The government’s approach now will also involve updating the NPR data “in paper format” as also on a “mobile mode”.